We all know they're lying to cover up for Trump, but the media is still shocked. I wonder why? On CNN's New Day, John Berman explains.

"That quote from John Kennedy of Louisiana is stunning. Stunning. He went to Oxford. He knows what the intelligence community says. He knows it was Russia that tried to meddle and did, in fact, attack the U.S. election in 2016," John Berman said. (Isn't that touching? The Harvard grad thinks people who went to high-end universities don't lie!)

He asked Mike Smerconish what was going on with Kennedy.

"He knows. He knows what the intelligence community says. He knows what the facts are. And he knows what Vladimir Putin wants is for him to say maybe it was Ukraine," Berman said.

"I think this whole process has been a testament to the deep polarization in the country," Smerconish said.

"As compelling as many of us find the evidence that was forthcoming from those hearings, I don't think they were a game changer. the conservative media remains lock step with the president. There hasn't been a bottom-up groundswell from the American people, and so we are probably at the conclusion of these hearings, exactly where we were at the outset and the testimony that was offered really has not moved the needle."

"But aside from what we just heard from Senator Kennedy and how outrageous that was, we also know that many members of Congress were briefed by the intelligence community about Russia's role in trying to point the finger on Ukraine. They've been doing this for the past year or so, gearing up for the 2020 election. And I ask this with all sincerity, if they can't believe the intelligence community, all 17 agencies, what's the point of having an intelligence community?"

"Well, I think they probably do believe the intelligence committee. I think that the senator knows better, but the direction is coming from the president. and where the president has made this a part of his defense narrative, that there's still some confusion, that's why he in the July 25 telephone conversation was making that request of President Zelensky to look at Crowdstrike. I think that they're afraid of him, and they're afraid specifically of being primaried, where he holds such sway over those type of Republican voters who come out in closed primaries. That's really the rub of this."

"It is interesting because the 'bad but not impeachable' argument is one thing. What we just heard from John Kennedy was another, which is, the facts that we're being told aren't, in fact, the facts. And it does harken to a quote from a former Republican president, Michael, that I imagine you're fond of," Berman said.

"Teddy Roosevelt said once -- and I'm going to read the quote: 'To announce there must be no criticism of the president or that we are to stand by the president right or wrong is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.' That's a pretty stark warning from the late president."